Once upon a time, there were two people who did nothing but get on each other's nerves. They would often fight and bicker until one walked away dangerously ticked off. Perhaps it's because both of them greatly valued their pride to even get the idea of admitting defeat. Of course that being the case, it meant both parties never gave up.
Now as any author would do (most, at least), I'll tell you something about these two people before our story actually begins. First, you have to know that they have had quite a history fighting along side each other in the Ura Butou Satsujin, the Sealed Lands, and SODOM with their comrades from Team Hokage. Technically, they're not strangers. But... are they still the same people they were in their younger years? What happens when they unexpectedly meet again after five years of not hearing from each other? That's where our story starts.
Chapter 1
After his sister was killed, Mikagami Tokiya became the only adopted child of Maria Crawford, a very successful businesswoman who owned fifty Crawford Corporation branches all over the world. Though she didn't raise him or watch Tokiya grow up in Japan, she provided him with everything he needed until he finally decided to come live with her in North America five years ago.
"Adrian, do you have anything planned on Friday?" Maria asked as she ate breakfast with her son beside the massive pool of their manor.
Oh yes, I forgot one detail you must know. After Tokiya moved with his mother, his name was changed to Adrian Crawford because... well, you'll find out soon.
Tokiya jabbed on his Eggo waffle after slicing it. "Yes, I have a photoshoot." He answered calmly. "Why?"
Maria frowned. "Oh nothing."
Tokiya stopped mid way his second slice of waffle. "Mother, you're not very convincing."
Maria sighed, defeated. Nonetheless, she took a small sip of her orange juice before responding. "Alright, alright, you caught me."
Tokiya raised a brow. "I'm listening."
"Well..." His mother trailed off, fascinated by the carvings in her glass. "You know how much I've been wanting you to meet Clarissa and... Friday seems to be the only day she's available."
No, not her again. Tokiya sighed. "Mother, I've told you a million times, I am not marrying her."
The woman looked slightly annoyed. "Oh but Adrian! You haven't even seen her!" (Exactly his point) Maria countered, wiping her lips with a napkin. "Surely you can't judge someone so thoughtlessly!"
"Mother," Tokiya emphasized, "I'm a twenty-two-year-old in the twenty first century, arranged marriages are ancient by now."
Maria glared at her son. "Don't assume things, dear." She huffed. "Besides, if you don't give Clarissa the chance to even know you, how would you know you don't want to marry her as you say?"
The boy rolled his eyes. He simply could not believe they were having this conversation again. "I'll be honest," he looked at her seriously, "I'm almost at the peak of my career. I don't have time for women."
Maria waved her hand, dismissing her son's nonsense. "Adrian, you can't expect your fans to take care of you when I'm gone!"
"Don't say such things." said Tokiya. When he sensed his mother's disappointment, he calmed down. "I'm sorry, Mother. Please understand, I really don't have any interest in women right now."
Maria grew worried. "Oh dear... you're not... g-gay are you?"
For a second, Tokiya's eyes widened before he regained composure and calmly resumed eating. "Just because I said I don't take interest in women doesn't mean I'm homosexual, Mother." His calm, unaffected attitude continued to linger on. "Now if you'll excuse me," he said, standing up, "I have to meet Ryan in thirty minutes. I'll see you tonight."
The woman nodded as she eyed her son heading back to the house. She wondered when the day would come where Adrian would voluntarily tell her he would love to meet Clarissa. Maria Crawford just couldn't help but worry. Adrian had never, not even once, talked to his mother about any girl he fancied. With the fear of her son growing old and alone in the future, Maria vowed to proceed on working harder to find a very suitable wife for her son.
MeanwhileTokiya climbed into his silver Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and silently drove to Ryan's house as he thought of his earlier discussion with his mother that morning. He couldn't figure out why she was so bothered by the fact that he barely took any notice of women in general. No, he wasn't gay, he was sure of that, but what was so wrong with being single?
And that... Clarissa was brought up again. By now Tokiya was sure his mother would have already given up playing matchmaker but no, she was still as determined as she was three years ago. What was so special about her? Tokiya asked himself. Of course we all know that he can't possibly know without getting to know her right? But Tokiya was too stubborn and his decision was absolute. Having a woman in his life, in a romantic sense nonetheless, would ruin his way of climbing up to the top. Perhaps he shouldn't be thinking that way, but it was true. Every one of his friends began to lay low and gave up acting when they got married. He didn't want to be like that.
Besides, from the very first day Maria mentioned Clarissa, Tokiya felt and knew she couldn't be any good. He didn't know why, he just did. His mother's praises to the said woman piled up as years went by. That Clarissa was 'very kind, sophisticated, graceful, charming, and beautiful'; so what if Clarissawas all that? Tokiya could care less, really. It didn't matter to him, she sounded too formal anyway. He'd rather spend a day with Fuuko than have dinner with her. Wait, scratch that thought. Where did it suddenly come from anyway? Well... moving on, every time his mother would tell him to meet Clarissa, Tokiya thanked his busy schedule that enabled him to find reasons to stay away from the famous young woman.
She can't possibly be that great.
To Tokiya, Clarissa sounded too good to be true.
When he finally reached his destination (i.e. Ryan's house) and parked his car on the driveway, Tokiya got out of his car and walked to the front door. He knocked three consecutive times before it swung open and revealed a grinning Ryan Cross.
"ADRIAN!" Ryan greeted, jumping out of the way to let his friend inside. "Ol' buddy, ol' pal! What a surprise!"
Tokiya's eyes rolled skyward. "Idiot. You knew I was coming. Stop acting like a child."
Ryan snickered. "A party pooper as usual. Loosen up will you?"
Tokiya sighed. "Tell me why I'm here again?"
Ryan sheepishly grinned as he scratched his head. Tokiya knew (to the very sanity he had left with dealing with his so called friend) that he would not like what was about to come out of Ryan's mouth. And he wasn't proven wrong. "Well... I wanted to ask you if you could... help me go grocery shopping." Tokiya's brow twitched. Ryan wasn't finished, however. "You know, since I don't have a car yet and uh... my parents will be you know... gone for a few days."
Tokiya glared daggers at his friend. "That's the reason you called me over? You wanted a driver?"
"Hehe..." Ryan nervously chuckled. "No, no, no! Of course not! I uh... wanted... company!"
"Sure you did." Tokiya wasn't fooled one bit.
"Come on, man! Please!" He begged. "Do you want to be held responsible if I starve to death?" He questioned Tokiya dramatically.
Tokiya shrugged. "I won't mind. I'd be the first one to see you in your funeral."
Ryan acted to be hurt. "Adrian, please! I swear you can just leave me in Zellers and you can go walk around in the mall while I shop! I'm serious!"
Walk around in the mall? Tokiya asked himself. I can't blame him and I won't. Since when did Mikagami Tokiya, famous Ensui weilder, walked around in the mall? Tokiya sighed. "Cross... why in the world did you not think of calling a Taxi or taking the bus before calling me? I could be doing something productive right now!" He bellowed, utterly annoyed.
Ryan looked confused. "Shoot, why didn't I think of that?" He asked himself aloud. Actually, truth be told, he was too lazy to and he wanted to ride Tokiya's new car. Of course he would not dare say it out loud, Tokiya would gladly murder him.
Simple, Tokiya thought. "Because you don't bother to think."
After a few more arguments, and what seemed like a thousand pleadings fromRyan, Tokiya finally agreed on taking his friend to Square One. Though he couldn't believe that he actually gave in to his spoiled friend's request, Tokiya finally complied upon dawning to him that Ryan would not stop harassing him with his reasoning even if his dear life depended on it. It shouldn't have taken him that long to realize, and the thought of Ryan's stupidity being rather contagious disturbed him.
The moment the two stepped into Zellers, Tokiya walked out of the store with an evident scowl on his face. He hated the mall. Especially when it was just too damn crowded. It's not like he was at the mall most of the time, in fact he rarely bothered to even think of the idea of going to the overly large public place. He always avoided it and would often go in disguised instead, for his own safety that is. He liked the outdoors, but he liked it when he was alone to be specific.
"Mi-chan?"
Tokiya's ear twitched. There were only a few people who knew that nickname and dared use it. He turned around and almost, almost fell flat on his face. Just in front of him stood Kirisawa Fuuko, how in the world she managed to meet him in such a place, he couldn't decipher. "F-Fuuko?"
"Mi-chan!" Fuuko squealed in delight before leaping into his arms and choking him in a bear hug. "Wow, it really is you!"
Tokiya gently let her go before asking the obvious question. "What are you doing here?"
Fuuko stared at Tokiya as if he had lost his mind. "Uh... shopping?"
Tokiya glared at her. "I meant here. Aren't you supposed to be in Japan?" Tokiya watched her with mild amazement lingering inside him. Fuuko looked... cute. Who still wore overalls?
Apparently, Fuuko did... but Tokiya didn't care. As old as overalls were, she wore it with one of its straps loosely hanging off her shoulder and matched it with a sleeveless top underneath. To top it off, she wore a baseball hat with few strands of her hair framing her face. Tokiya inwardly frowned at the realization of what his thoughts were implying. Why did he even bother to study whatever she wore? Had he, in fact, lost his precious mind?
"Oh!" Fuuko exclaimed, snatching back the attention of her old comrade. "I moved." She grinned.
There were too many things going on Tokiya's mind before he was able to bring himself to answer. What was he expected to do? He sure didn't know. "Nice seeing you then." He blurted out before walking pass her.
"MI-CHAN HOW RUDE!"
Tokiya turned around to see a glowering Fuuko. "What?" He asked her, annoyed. He didn't insult her, that should have been more than enough right? What more did she want?
"You're just going to walk off like that?" She spat out.
Tokiya shrugged. "Sure."
Fuuko growled. "Why you –"
"Hey, hey, hey!" A cheery voice interrupted the two. Have you guessed? It was Ryan Cross.
Ryan smoothly walked over to Fuuko with a familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Hey there, what do you say, hun?" He raised his brows. "You, me, on a nice day like this, go out on a –"
"Don't even think about it, Cross." Tokiya hissed.
"Whoa!" Ryan backed away from the irritated Fuuko, hands raised in surrender in front of Tokiya. "Chill dude, didn't know she was taken." He soon slumped his shoulders in resignation. "What's this? You're keeping your girlfriend all to yourself, man."
"What did you say?" Fuuko barked, hands immediately shooting up and landing on her fair hips.
Tokiya crossed his arms on his chest. "She's not my –"
"Oh please!" Ryan laughed. "You don't have to be so selfish! I can see that you two have something going on." He nudged his silver-haired friend. "Dude, she's hot, and I mean sizzling."
An obvious blush appeared on Fuuko's cheeks before she managed to find something to say. "Listen! Mi-chan and I –"
"What did you call him?" Ryan asked, curious. "See!" His face lit up, "She even has a pet name for you! Oh how cute! Adrian, seriously, you shouldn't keep your relationship a secret you know."
Tokiya 'seriously' wanted to wring his friend's neck. The old fool wouldn't stop yapping about his so-called 'relationship' with Fuuko and how he should've told him about them sooner. He cast a swift glance at Fuuko who scratched her head in confusion. Apparently, they couldn't drill into Ryan's thick skull that they were just friends. The idiot won't even let them finish their sentences!
Tokiya had had just about enough hearing how 'selfish' he was from 'hiding her from everyone.' He was about to flatly tell Ryan to shut his bloody mouth when his phone decided to ring. Of all times, Ryan was again, saved from Tokiya's wrath.
"What?" Tokiya snapped as he answered his phone.
"Oh don't be so grumpy, Adrian." Tokiya heard his mother's voice on the other end. It did him some good; he was beginning to calm down.
"Sorry. What is it, Mother?" Tokiya asked. He also didn't miss hearing a light gasp from Fuuko who was surprised from his response. Typical. He didn't blame her. No one in the Hokage actually knew he was adopted after his sister died anyway.
"Oh dear!" Maria giggled. "You must bring that girl home! I'd love to meet her!"
Tokiya froze, quickly looking at Fuuko. "Girl? What are you –"
"Yes! I know you won't be pleased, but I just received a faxed photo of you two hugging!" Maria squealed. "Oh Adrian, I can't believe you didn't tell me about her! Please dear, I want to meet her as soon as possible!"
"But –"
"Come home early!"
"But you –"
"Please?" Maria pleaded. "Come on, Adrian, you two make such a cute couple! I have to meet your girlfriend!"
Tokiya sighed. "I'll ask her if she wants to come," he glanced at Fuuko again; she was too busy being bugged by Ryan to catch his eyes.
"I really want to meet her, son," Maria sounded disappointed. "She has to come, okay? We can just tell Jonathan to drive her back home after dinner or something!"
Tokiya massaged his temples; he could feel a headache on its way. He was trapped; his mother was obviously going to find a way with his excuses. He had no choice, he had to take Fuuko home with him whether she liked it or not. "Yes, Mother. See you later." And with that, he hung up.
How the hell did his mother receive a picture of them anyway? Tokiya scanned around the place and noticed a few suspicious looking people. Great, Mother told them to spy on me.
"Cross!" Tokiya yelled to catch the boy's attention.
"What?"
"Go home." Tokiya simply stated.
Fuuko could only watch the two and listen to their conversation.
"Go home!" Tokiya emphasized. "I have to talk to Fuuko."
Fuuko raised a brow while Ryan mischievously grinned.
"Fine." The boy nodded before walking off to the opposite direction Fuuko and Tokiya stood. He was going to make his dear friend tell him more about his pretty girlfriend. Oh yeah, he was sure of it.
As Tokiya watched Ryan disappear from view, he heard a coughing sound (that seemed rather forced, to be exact) behind him that successfully distracted him out from glaring at his friend's back.
He had met Fuuko after so long, then Ryan thought they were together, his mother once again sent her annoying agents to spy on him and sent a picture of Tokiya hugging Fuuko nonetheless. Now he was expected to take Fuuko home for his mother to meet her. How could things become so messed up in the span of, what, fifteen minutes? Again, Tokiya never liked the mall... and he doubt he ever would.
"So you need to talk to me?" Fuuko asked him, causing Tokiya to face her. "About what, Mi-chan?"
"My mother suddenly wants to meet you," Tokiya sighed, "will you come?"
"Right." Fuuko giggled, adjusting her hold to the shopping bags she carried. "Very funny."
As it turned out, Tokiya wasn't lying and Fuuko ended up coming with him after he told her he'd even pay her to come. Of course she wouldn't accept the money, Mi-chan just seemed desperate enough that Fuuko didn't have the heart to leave him. She didn't agree though, until she made Tokiya promise to tell her everything she didn't know about the issue with his mother.
The ride to the Crawford residence was consisted of Tokiya telling Fuuko that he was adopted after Mifuyu died. He also told her how he refused to live with his mother until after the battle of SODOM. Unknown to Fuuko though, he left out a detail that she probably ought to know. According to Tokiya – as he pondered to himself, that is – she didn't need to know how he made money. She would probably gape in disbelief, spouting nonsense about how it didn't really fit his personality. Yes, he could just imagine it.
"But why does she want to meet me?" Fuuko asked, lazily watching the cars drive by in front of them.
Apparently, all that talk didn't make her forget to ask that question. Tokiya nonchalantly shrugged. "She thinks you're my girlfriend." It's cool, Tokiya. You don't care. Nope, not at all.
"WHAT?" Fuuko screamed. "How can she... that's impossible!"
Tokiya momentarily took his eyes off the road and glanced at Fuuko. Her eyes darted to the left, and to the right, as if contemplating about how it was,indeed, possible. "Spies. Agents. Whatever you want to call them."
Fuuko stared at Tokiya, doubting if those people actually existed. Weren't they only shown in movies? "Are you famous or something?"
"That doesn't matter, we're here."
Soon, Fuuko couldn't believe her eyes the moment she stepped into what Tokiya claimed to be his 'house'. It was more like a mansion, a very big one too. There was no doubt in her mind that it was her apartment, only ten, no, twenty times bigger... or even more than that. In truth she had just gotten in the house, only passing the front door, but her mouth was already hanging open in amazement.
Mi-chan lives here
"Are you just going to stand there?"
Fuuko cleared her throat, snapping out of her trance. "Of course not." She scowled.
The two went on walking as Fuuko followed Tokiya. Once in a while, she would quietly gasp at a room before scurrying back behind her comrade, afraid to get lost in the huge building. She would definitely have to explore the house before she leaves. It wasn't everyday that she came by a house so big, you know?
It's like he's filthy, stinking, rich!"Oh my! Dear, welcome to our humble home!"
Before Fuuko could turn to the direction of where the voice came, she felt as if her lungs had stopped functioning when a fairly heavy weight immediately knocked some air out of her; in a tight embrace, to be precise. Fuuko's mouth slightly parted as a nervous laugh slid off her lips. She raised a questioning brow at Tokiya who merely stood in front of her, staring. Glaring at the unaffected bishounen, Fuuko slowly returned the embrace.
"I-It's great to meet you, ma'am."
Author's Note:
This is the first time I'm writing with this style, I really hope it wasn't too bad! When the author or storyteller voices her opinion in the story, it switches back to present tense. I hope it wasn't too confusing! Just as well, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun writing it.